Walker Names Final Wisconsin Elections Commission Members

Share:

The six-member roster of the new Wisconsin Elections Commission is now complete. The partisan commission, which will oversee state elections, is set to replace the nonpartisan Government Accountability Board (GAB) on June 30.
Walker Names Final Wisconsin Elections Commission Members

June 6, 2016

On Friday, Republican Gov. Scott Walker appointed former Burlington city clerk Beverly Gill and former Sheboygan County clerk Julie Glancey to the commission. The pair were among six former local government clerks whose names were submitted to Walker by Democratic and Republican legislative leaders. Walker was required to pick a Democratic and a Republican nominee to the commission. Senate and Assembly Democratic and Republican legislative leaders appointed the four other commission members earlier this year.

The GOP-controlled legislature and Walker created the elections commission and the partisan Wisconsin Ethics Commission late last year after frequent accusations that the GAB treated Republicans unfairly. Walker and GOP legislators also condemned the GAB for its role in the John Doe II probe, which investigated coordination between outside electioneering by special interest groups and Walker’s campaign in 2011 and 2012.

The members of both commissions are made up of three Republicans and three Democrats.

The Elections Commission members, who will serve five-year terms, and the campaign contributions they made to legislative and partisan statewide candidates between January 2005 and December 2015 are:

Ann Jacobs, of Milwaukee, contributed about $11,700 to Democratic legislative and statewide candidates. Jacobs, an attorney, was appointed by Senate Democratic Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling;

Don Millis, of Sun Prairie, and his wife, Pam, contributed $8,600 to GOP legislative and statewide candidates, including $3,750 to Walker. Millis, an attorney, was appointed by GOP Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald;

Steve King, of Janesville, and his wife, Karen, contributed about $34,700 to GOP legislative and statewide candidates, including about $7,435 to Walker. King, a longtime Republican operative who now runs King Capital LLC, was appointed by GOP Assembly Speaker Robin Vos;

Mark Thomsen, of Brookfield, and his wife, Grace, contributed about $100,700 to Democratic legislative and statewide candidates. Thomsen, an attorney, was appointed by Democratic Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca;

Gill, of Burlington, who was among the Republican nominees sent to Walker, has not made contributions to legislative or statewide candidates.

Glancey, of Sheboygan Falls, who was among the Democratic nominees sent to Walker, has not made contributions to legislative or statewide candidates. Her husband, Duane, contributed $200 to a Democratic Assembly candidate in 2014.

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is working for a real democracy that allows the common good to prevail over narrow interests. We track the money in state politics and fight for campaign finance and other democracy reforms. WDC is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and charitable contributions supporting our work are fully tax deductible when you itemize.